Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Flanker Dig out of Shotgun Trio lines up with a bunched trio to the left and an isolated receiver to the right. The left trio runs a deep out, a crossing dig, and a wheel/flat combo that clears the shallow zone, while the boundary X runs an out and up the sideline. The lone right receiver runs a deep comeback (drawn going up then breaking outside), and the running back releases into a shallow flat route out of the backfield. This is a zone beater built on horizontal stretch and route separation, with the dig sitting in the void behind underneath defenders and in front of deep zone drops, and the primary read is the dig route into the middle of the field, working to the crossing route in the flat and then the deep comeback if the defense rolls coverage away from the dig.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify two deep safeties versus a single high safety, since Cover 2 and Cover 4 leave the intermediate dig window open for the quarterback. Key the middle linebacker depth, if he drops too deep the dig sits behind him for an easy completion. Watch for a user-controlled defender sitting in the flat or shallow zone, since that can bait the quarterback into throwing into a lurking defender on the crossing route. This play struggles against man press coverage on the trio side since the crossing routes get picked or the receivers get knocked off their timing. Blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge can beat this if the running back stays in as a blocker instead of releasing to the flat, so watch the protection call before the snap.
Usage Tips
Use this on second and medium to second and long when you expect zone coverage like Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells.
Pre-snap, check the depth of the middle linebacker and the safety alignment, if the MLB sits shallow the dig window opens up big.
Hot route the running back to a check release if you see a heavy blitz look, since he becomes your outlet against man pressure.
Pair this with Steeler Dig or Mills Y Corner in the same set to keep the defense guessing between similar crossing concepts and deep shots.
Against man coverage, look to the wheel route or the deep comeback on the boundary side since the dig can get clogged by underneath defenders sitting in zone drop windows.
